Another Life, Another Chance to Turn Twenty One
by Saria-the-green-haired
Summary: Sequel. They've been given another chance at the life they were denied so long ago, but someone doesn't remember any of it, which puts a bit of a crimp in their plans... SetoYami Discontinued
1. Prologue: Dreams

Warnings: Blood, gore, me trying to do dream sequences and flashbacks, and more "adult" themes then my other stories (seeing as they will be older). However, this is still PG-13 since it isn't really explicit; just implied.  
  
Pairing: Seto/Yami.  
  
Disclaimer: Kage is mine, the idea is mine, but nothing else is.  
  
Notes: This is the present-day sequel to "Trouble of an Arranged Sort," a story that was, in turn, based on the universe introduced in "Devotion." Go read "Trouble of an Arranged Sort" at the very least, or you will become very confused. Also, this universe/series toys with the idea of Yami being a girl, so don't say I didn't warn you.  
  
[...] signify dreams and/or flashbacks  
  
I know that I really should be working on my first and still unfinished YGO story, but I wanted to get this written out before I forgot what I was going to do with it. Plus, "A Red Rose in Winter" is NOT cooperating.  
  
So that everyone knows where I'm getting my years and timeline things from, this story operates on the assumption that the sealing of the Shadow Games took place when Kage (and the other people involved) were roughly 18-19, and that the YGO gang was 16 or 17, as well as in their second year of high school, during the majority of the series.  
  
I haven't the faintest idea as to how Japanese school systems work, so I'm basing them on American ones. (For what, you'll see.)  
  
Also, all scenes taken from the anime(all one of 'em) are fudged/altered slightly, because I haven't seen them for ages and because it works better this way. And Kage and Yugi are separated long before they're supposed to because I think that most normal people would be mildly disturbed to be having a conversation with two people at the same time but only be talking to one body.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Another Life, Another Chance to Turn Twenty-One  
  
By Saria-the-green-haired who is pissed at FFN because it wouldn't upload her HTML file correctly so she's stuck using regular stuff.  
  
~* Prologue: Dreams *~  
  
She is dreaming.  
  
~*~  
  
[The air around her is hot, almost unbearably so. A warm wind whips at her face, stirring up the hot sand at her feet. She can see two figures, children no more than ten in age, but they are blurry. She squints at them, and the image focuses enough so that she can see their clothes: richly embroidered, but odd, reminding her of an ancient civilization. As she watches, they continue to run and play, oblivious to their visitor.  
  
"Aniki!" one of the children (a girl?) yells. They are siblings, she realizes. "Shouldn't you be going to your lessons?"  
  
"I suppose," the other child sighs. "But they're so boring!"  
  
"Hello?" she tries to say, but finds that the words are stuck in her throat. She takes a step towards the playing children, holding out her hand as they draw near. They run past her without so much as a glance in her direction.  
  
Confused, she turns and follows them, grateful that she can still move in this odd dream.  
  
She follows the children into a building that can only be a palace. As she looks at the beautifully carved decorations, a small part of her wonders absently why she can see her surroundings so clearly yet nothing else.  
  
  
  
She walks noiselessly down the elegantly ornamented hallways, the stone tiles smooth and cool underneath her feet as she follows the children's' shouts.  
  
The room the two siblings finally enter is filled with shelf upon shelf of scrolls. The large wooden desk in the center of the room is a rich mahogany color, and is also covered with scrolls. The children run up to the figure seated there, embracing him warmly.  
  
"I see that you two have finally decided to grace your old father with your presence," the man says jokingly.  
  
"Yes, father," his daughter says as she settles herself into a seat. Her brother does the same, sitting on the other side of their father.  
  
"Now then, my son," their father says, opening up a scroll. "Let's say that we have an agreement with this country."  
  
"What kind of agreement?" the young girl asks.  
  
"I'm getting to that," her father chuckles. "In exchange for one hundred oxen, they will give us one hundred bags of rice, or something along those lines. If we sent them the oxen a fortnight ago, but we have yet to receive the rice, what should we do?"  
  
"That's easy!" the little boy says. "We send them a message saying that if they don't give us the rice soon, we'll kick their butts!"  
  
"No, stupid," his sister cuts in. "We're supposed to send them a message asking politely for the rice!"  
  
"Your sister is correct," their father says, a hint of laughter in his voice.  
  
"But being polite is so stupid and pointless!" the small boy complains.  
  
"It may be, but you will have to learn how to be polite if you wish to be pharaoh," their father rebukes gently. Pharaoh? The dreaming girl wonders. They are royalty?  
  
Before she can pursue this train of thought, the scene focuses for a brief second, and she sees the children and their father with crystal-clear clarity. She stares in surprise as she looks at the red-eyed figures before her, at the eyes that she sees whenever she looks in a mirror, and at the face that she sees when she looks at pictures of herself when she was younger. She would say that she is the girl, but if it is true, then the boy is her brother and the man is her father...  
  
But she doesn't have any siblings, and her father has brown eyes and black hair.]  
  
*****  
  
He is curled up on his bed, dreaming of his recently discovered memories, and of one person in particular.  
  
"Imoutochan...," he whispers in his sleep.  
  
~*~  
  
["I can't do this," he whispers nervously to his twin, fidgeting with his clothes. Beyond the giant crimson they stand behind, the roar of the crowd is deafening.  
  
"Yes, you can," she replies, smiling. "Now stop worrying; you're going to do fine."  
  
"But what if the monsters won't listen to me? What if I lose? Father will be so disappointed..."  
  
"Well, the first definitely isn't going to happen, and even if you do lose, it's only your first game, so it doesn't matter. Besides, you aren't going to lose, so stop worrying," Yami says sternly. Her expression softens as she gives him a hug. "Go on: it's almost your turn. Good luck, aniki!"  
  
"Thank you," he whispers as he pushes the curtain aside and walks into the bright sunlight.  
  
Later, he stands amidst the crowd's wild cheering, bewildered and dazed. "I won," he thinks, a smile spreading on his face. " I really won!"  
  
Turning as he hears a shout, he is nearly bowled over as his twin gives him an enthusiastic hug. Laughing, he swings her around, repeating the words out loud. "I really won!"  
  
"Of course you did, aniki!" she replies, smiling happily at her older brother. "I never doubted that you would."]  
  
~*~  
  
He remembers that smile, remembered it even when he remembered nothing else. Still lost in his dreams, he drifts into another memory.  
  
~*~  
  
["Aniki!" Years later, he turns at the cry, smiling fondly at his sister, his beautiful and beloved sister.  
  
"What is it, imoutochan?" he asks.  
  
"Let's dance, aniki!" she cries, eyes sparkling. "You need to have fun tonight too! Just because you're pharaoh now doesn't mean that you have to be all serious!"  
  
Laughing, he allows himself to be pulled into the crowd. He dances with his sister, ignoring the applause and cheers from the people around them, his eyes focused on his little sister, who is not so little now.  
  
When the dance is over, he gives her a hug, then releases her. "Go on; I know your husband is waiting," he says, smiling. He continues to smile as she runs over to the brown-haired man on the edge of the crowd that is indeed waiting, her smile blinding.]  
  
~*~  
  
Where is she now? He wonders dimly, still sleeping. Most likely she is with their parents in the afterlife, still smiling that smile, and he ignores the pang of sadness in his heart at the thought of being separated from his family for eternity.  
  
But...Kaiba was reincarnated, a part of him points out, and a small part of him dares to hope that his sister might also have been reincarnated, that he might see her once again after 3000 years.  
  
Maybe...  
  
Awake, Yugi watches his other half sleep; watches and wonders as a single tear slides down Kage's cheek.  
  
*****  
  
She is dreaming again, but this dream is different from her first dream.  
  
~*~  
  
["Thank you, spirit," a small boy with spiky hair says. Again, the people are blurry, she thinks. How odd. They do not notice her.  
  
"Yeah, we couldn't have done it without you," a taller boy with blonde hair and an accent says. He, like everyone else, is wearing a blue high school uniform.  
  
"On the contrary, my friends," the taller spiky-haired boy (the spirit?) replies, and she can detect a smile in his voice. "I couldn't have done it without all of you."  
  
"Oh! I've been meaning to ask you," a brown-haired girl says. "What should we call you, now that we know that you and Yugi are different people?"  
  
"I know what we can call him!" the blonde boy says excitedly. "It's somethin' I thought of earlier. 'Cause he's like Yugi's other half, and he plays the Shadow Games, which are kinda dark, I thought we could call him `Yami no Yugi,` or something like that. Isn't that cool? And we could call him `Yami` for short-"  
  
"Don't call me that!" the spiky-haired boy interrupts sharply, and everyone looks surprised. "Never call me that! I have been called many things in the course of my lifetime, but my given name is `Kage,` so you may call me that if you wish."  
  
"Okay," the blond boy says, drooping slightly. "I'm sorry, Kage..."  
  
"It's all right, Jounochi," this `Kage` says, not unkindly, as the dreaming girl wonders why that name sounds so familiar.. "It isn't your fault."  
  
"Why don't you want us to call you `Yami`?" the smallest boy asks.  
  
Kage is silent for a long moment before he replies in a soft voice. "That was the name of someone I knew long ago, of someone very dear to me..."  
  
That is my name! My name is Yami! She wants to ask who the person who has her name is, but the words stick in her throat. She can do nothing but watch as the image of the talking teenagers fades away, barely making the connection between Kage and the small prince from her first dream.]  
  
*****  
  
Seto is staring up at the ceiling of his room. He has regained many of his memories from Egypt, and has formed an uneasy truce with the former pharaoh. However, he cannot shake the feeling that there is something missing from his life, something that is leaving a large hole in his life...a hole that not even Mokuba or his company can fill.  
  
Sighing, he closes his eyes and slowly falls asleep.  
  
~*~  
  
[Seto follows his parents off of the chariot, trying not to yawn as he and his parents kneel in front of the pharaoh. He can hardly wait for the game against the crown prince, where he will prove his superiority once and for all.  
  
"Rise," the pharaoh says, laughing. "No need for that kind of respect, my friends."  
  
"It's been a long time, hasn't it?" Seto's father says as they stand.  
  
Seto mentally rolls his eyes and functions on autopilot through the niceties, waking up briefly when he is introduced.  
  
"I welcome you to our palace. I hope you enjoy your stay here," the girl standing behind the pharaoh and the queen says, bowing. Seto looks at her, and the aching hole in his heart is suddenly more pronounced then ever.  
  
Seto passes through the rest of the dream in a daze, wondering just who she is. That she was the princess and Kage's sister, he knows, but who is she now?]  
  
*****  
  
[She is standing in the room of scrolls again, but there are even more scrolls now then there were before. A girl is seated at the table, reading over one of the scrolls.  
  
Stepping closer, she sees that the girl looks like her. Faintly surprised that nothing is blurry in this dream, she wonders if the girl is supposed to represent her in this strange dream.  
  
She looks at the door as it opens, seeing two figures walk in. One is obviously an older version of the spiky-haired child she dreamed about before.  
  
Yami stares as she sees at the second figure. He is tall and handsome, with brown hair and cobalt eyes. There is something achingly familiar about him...  
  
"Were you waiting long, imoutochan?" Kage asks as he kisses his sister on the cheek before sitting on one of the chairs.  
  
"Yes, but I'm used to it by now," her dream self says, smiling. Yami gapes as the brown-haired man gives her dream self a kiss on the lips, barely catching his next words.  
  
"Sorry, but your brother and I had a disagreement," he says, smiling apologetically.  
  
"Don't you two always?" her dream self retorts, smiling to take the sting out of the insult.  
  
"Not always...," Kage says, pouting slightly at his sister's lack of faith.  
  
"Name one time where you two ended a conversation without arguing," his sister challenges.  
  
"Um...," Kage starts to say.  
  
The dream fades away, leaving Yami lost in thought.]  
  
~*~  
  
She turns restlessly, caught between sleep and wakefulness. She settles down with a small sigh as her dreams overtake her again.  
  
~*~  
  
[There is blood everywhere and the air feels heavy. She cannot see anything but blood, that crimson liquid that is the same color as her eyes, or so many people have told her.  
  
There is someone screaming, out of anguish or fear she cannot tell, but there is an undertone of sorrow inside the pained screams.  
  
There is so much blood; the whole room is covered in it.  
  
Out of the corner or her eye she sees a glint of light and turns towards it, only to slip on the bloodstained floor and fall to the ground, distantly noticing that no one is screaming anymore.  
  
Her skin, her hands, all of her is covered with blood. She tries to get up, only to have her hand encounter something warm. Yami gasps, dimly wondering why she can make sound in this dream, looks, then immediately wishes that she hadn't.  
  
It is someone's decapitated head, their expression one of horror, fear, and pain. Not far from their head lay an arm and a heart, both bloody.  
  
She screams and screams; she cannot stop. She is still screaming when she realizes, with a jolt, that the person who was screaming earlier was her.]  
  
~*~  
  
When she wakes, all that she remembers are the name "Kage" and a pair of cobalt eyes.  
  
~* To Be Continued *~  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Saria: That was interesting, now wasn't it? ^_^; And some of you may be wondering why Seto and Kage are actually themselves in their dreams/memories, while Yami isn't. My answer is that both Seto and Kage realize that they have past lives, so they're reliving their memories as such, but Yami does not know about ancient Egypt, so she's merely viewing her memories. And her dream about Kage? She's got magic, doesn't she? ^-^  
  
And Seto only got one dream because he was being stupid and not cooperating.  
  
@|----- Saria-the-green-haired 


	2. Chapter One: Fateful Meetings

Warnings: Um...for this chapter, not much, except possible OOCness.  
  
Pairing: Seto/Yami, which is technically het in this, but yeah.  
  
Disclaimer: I own Kage and the universe. That is all.  
  
Notes: The writing style from here on out changes (most noticeably the tense). The prologue was mostly me trying to write dreams and things in the present tense. There are at least two subplots involved in this story, which is probably going to give me a headache, so the chapters may not come regularly or they may not be very long. However, I'll try to post a chapter at least every two weeks. (If it gets to be almost a month, e-mail me.)  
  
[...] signify flashbacks and/or dreams  
  
/.../ is Yugi speaking mentally with Kage  
  
//...// is Kage speaking mentally with Yugi  
  
I fudge many things this chapter, most of them concerning the school system.  
  
I love my reviewers, especially RD, whom I bug constantly while I write. =D  
  
Yami's Aibou: It IS rather confusing, and even moreso for me, since I'm writing it. I have to go back and check my pronouns constantly to make sure I haven't slipped up. ^^;;;;  
  
Calyia: I'm working on the posting soon part..^_^;  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~  
  
Another Life, Another Chance to Turn Twenty One  
  
By Saria-the-green-haired  
  
~* Chapter One: Fateful Meetings *~  
  
Yugi sighed, moving restlessly in his seat as he glanced around the room. Still no sign of them.  
  
/Where do you think they are?/ he asked his darker side. /I know that we all have the same first class.../  
  
//Knowing Jounochi, they're probably running frantically towards campus this very moment,// Kage replied, sounding amused.  
  
/You're probably right,/ Yugi said with a rueful sigh. /I wish that everyone was coming though...,/ he thought idly to himself. While the ties of friendship in the group had not weakened in the two years after Battle City, they were being tested by the ordeals of the real world. Only Yugi, Jounochi, and Anzu were attending the same college, which was fairly prestigious but not too expensive and close to home. Honda had been accepted to a flight school in another city and Bakura had chosen to go to another school, which was a bit further away, but still in the city. About Kaiba-kun, no one knew; though he and the group weren't enemies anymore, they weren't exactly close.  
  
"Yugi!" Yugi's head whipped towards the door as the well-known voice called his name.  
  
"You two made it!" he called, smiling happily as Jounochi and Anzu made their way across the classroom. The three had roughly the same schedule, having signed up for similar classes.  
  
"Yeah, and we're even early!" Jounochi said proudly, flopping into his seat. Over the past two years, he had changed little in regards to his appearance. Yugi liked to believe that he had matured somewhat, but sometimes, he wasn't so sure.  
  
"No thanks to *you*," Anzu said to Jounochi as she sat down. She, too, had changed little, though her taste in clothes had refined somewhat, as evidenced by the simple tank top and skirt combo she was wearing. "Isn't this exciting? We're in college!"  
  
"Hai," Yugi said, smiling. He himself had grown a few inches, so that he could no longer be rightfully called a midget, though he was still rather short for his age. "It feels so odd not to have to wear a school uniform though..."  
  
"I like it," Jounochi said, grinning lazily. "This is *much* more comfortable," he said, gesturing to his baggy clothes.  
  
"It is, isn't it?" Yugi said. The three chatted comfortably for a few more minutes before they were interrupted.  
  
"Is anyone sitting here?" someone asked hesitantly, and Yugi turned, absently noting that Kage had woken up completely.  
  
"No there isn't," he said, glancing at the seat the girl was pointing at without looking at the person in question. "Feel free to sit there if you wish." His eyes bugged out as he looked up. The girl standing before him had eyes just like Kage's! Not to mention her hair was the same colors as his...Around him, Yugi noticed dimly that Jounochi and Anzu had straightened in their seats, obviously noticing the resemblance as well.  
  
"Thank you," the unknown girl said, smiling slightly as she sat down. "I'm Yami Monou, what's your name?" she asked. Her eyes widened slightly as she looked at Yugi and his friends, but it was only for a split second, barely visible.  
  
"Y-Yugi Mutou," Yugi managed to stammer out, his mind reeling as he tried to process this new information. She said her name was Yami and she looked like Kage...  
  
Unbidden, a memory floated across his mind. ["Why don't you want us to call you `Yami`?" "That was the name of someone I knew long ago, of someone very dear to me..."] Could this be the same Yami Kage had been referring to? Hesitantly, Yugi reached out to Kage, only to be met by an onslaught of emotions, ranging from hope to an unfathomable sadness. Try as he might, Yugi could not get a coherent answer out of Kage.  
  
Yugi tuned back into the real world, only to find that Yami had apparently said something to him. "Could you say that again?" he asked, looking sheepish.  
  
Yami laughed lightly. "I was just saying how I never thought I'd meet the famous Yugi Mutou."  
  
Yugi blushed, looking at his feet as he mumbled his answer. "I'm not that famous or good...besides, it's been two years. Do you play Duel Monsters?" he asked, looking curiously at Yami. It had been a long time since he'd met another duelist, and he was itching for a duel with a new opponent.  
  
"Not much, I'm afraid," Yami said, smiling apologetically. "I know the rules, but that's about it. My interests lie elsewhere. I've heard many praises of your talents over the past few years though, and I followed the events in Duelist Kingdom for a while."  
  
"Thank you," Yugi said, smiling. "Oh! Where are my manners?" he said, gesturing at Anzu and Jounochi as he introduced them. "These are two of my very good friends, Katsuya Jounochi and Anzu Mazaki."  
  
"Pleased to make your acquaintance," Yami said politely as she half-bowed to them, tensing ever-so-slightly when Yugi mentioned Jounochi's name.  
  
"Do you live around here?" Anzu asked. Jounochi seemed to have been rendered speechless. "I haven't seen you around here..."  
  
"Actually, I was born and raised in Kyoto," Yami replied. "I was accepted into this college, which was convenient, since my father had to move here for business reasons."  
  
"Really?" Anzu asked excitedly. "What's Kyoto like?"  
  
Smiling, Yami began to describe the city to Anzu, and Yugi grinned at seeing the two girls hit it off so well. Jounochi still hadn't said anything.  
  
Just as Yami began describing the really interesting parts of Kyoto, their professor entered the room and the class began.  
  
Yami fidgeted restlessly throughout it, only half of her mind paying attention to the lesson. The other half was thinking about the three people sitting near her. They'd felt familiar when she'd looked at them (and she'd recognized Yugi's hair, of course), but she hadn't made the connection until Yugi had mentioned Jounochi's name.  
  
They were the people from her dreams, more specifically the one that had been repeating for the past two years, ever since her dreams had started. Oddly enough, that dream was the only one that she could remember the entirety of. She only remembered bits and pieces of the rest, and even then only for a short while.  
  
Yami sighed and glanced at Yugi out of the corner of her eye. Should she ask them about it? They'd probably think she was crazy, but if they could help her with her dreams, then she was all for it.  
  
Mind made up, Yami tried to steer her attention back to the oh-so- fascinating lecture on English the professor was giving, deciding to talk to Yugi and the others after class.  
  
*****  
  
After class, Yugi, Anzu, and Jounochi were packing up their things when Yami approached Yugi.  
  
"Um...can I ask you something?" she asked, looking around nervously.  
  
Yugi blinked. "Sure."  
  
"It may sound odd, but...do you know someone named Kage?" Yami asked.  
  
Yugi stared, as did Anzu and Jounochi. "Why do you ask?" he asked, still wary of people that asked about his yami, even after two years of relative peace, for his paranoia about having the Puzzle stolen had stuck.  
  
Yami hesitated. What could she say? That she'd been having dreams about them and a boy named Kage who looked an awful lot like Yugi? "Because I'm looking for someone that I used to know named Kage," she said finally, and looking at her, Yugi saw some of the loneliness he had felt in Kage and wondered. Yami sighed and turned away when Yugi didn't reply. "Never mind; forget it."  
  
"Wait!" Yugi called. "Um...my, er, cousin's name is Kage," he said when Yami turned back. It wasn't exactly a lie... "If you want, I could introduce the two of you to each other the next time he comes to visit."  
  
Yami smiled. "Thank you."  
  
"No problem," Yugi replied, smiling, and they parted ways.  
  
*****  
  
Yugi and his friends chose to eat lunch in one of the many courtyards around the college. This particular courtyard was fairly secluded, but beautiful and pleasant all the same.  
  
"Jounochi, you eat like a pig!" Anzu scolded the blonde boy as he inhaled his food.  
  
"Bu' ish delicious!" Jounochi said through a mouthful of food.  
  
Anzu twitched. "I give up," she muttered, glaring at Jounochi.  
  
Yugi suppressed a smile. "What did you two think of that girl we met?" he asked once Jounochi had demolished his lunch, something that did not take long. "You know, Yami?"  
  
Anzu beamed. "She was so nice and cool! And she came from Kyoto!" the brunette gushed, stars in her eyes. "Can you believe it? Kyoto!"  
  
"She was really pretty," Jounochi said, a tad dreamily.  
  
Yugi boggled. Anzu stared. Kage fell over inside his Soul Room.  
  
"Jounochi, do you have a *crush* on her?!" Anzu asked eventually.  
  
"He had better not," Kage said grimly, appearing. Quickly, Yugi glanced around to make sure no one had noticed; the courtyard was still deserted.  
  
"Why not?" Jounochi asked.  
  
"Because she's my sister," Kage said, giving Jounochi the Older Brother Glare of Doom (saved for potential suitors for little sisters. Copyrighted to Touya Kinomoto). "Besides..."  
  
"Besides what?" Jounochi asked. "And I don't have a crush on her," he added quickly as Kage gave him another Look.  
  
"Your sister?" Anzu said at the same time.  
  
"Yes, my sister," Kage repeated. "And you'll see," he said to Jounochi.  
  
"Your sister from ancient Egypt?" Yugi asked Kage.  
  
"It's just a feeling," Kage said. "But we were twins and her presence, her very aura feels the same. Plus, she mentioned my name, something that she could not possibly know about unless she really was my sister's reincarnation."  
  
"She *does* look an awful lot like you, Kage," Yugi mused.  
  
"Who does?" someone asked, and everyone jumped.  
  
"Kaiba-kun!" Yugi said, recognizing the CEO. "You scared us!"  
  
"Yeah; don't do it again," Jounochi grumbled. Off to the side, Anzu did the same, clutching at her heart.  
  
Seto smirked at Jounochi; he would have thrown a degrading comment at the blonde, but there were more pressing matters at the moment. "Who were you talking about?" he demanded.  
  
Yugi blinked. "Um...," he said, not sure that they should tell Kaiba about something like that.  
  
"Yami," Kage said, startling Yugi. "My former sister and...," he trailed off, and a look passed between the two.  
  
"Is it really her?" Seto asked and, suddenly, he looked very tired. No, more than tired; he looked bone achingly weary.  
  
"I have good reason to believe so, yes," Kage replied, that same weariness about him as well.  
  
"What are you two talking about?" Jounochi asked, looking thoroughly confused.  
  
"Yeah," Anzu said. "No greeting, no `how have you been`s...just `who is she?`"  
  
"What's the importance of your former sister?" Yugi asked Kage.  
  
"Well, you see-" Kage began, but stopped and returned to his Soul Room as they heard approaching footsteps. A split second later, Yami came into view.  
  
"Yugi!" she called, running over. "There you are!" she said, panting slightly as she stopped in front of Yugi. "I've been looking everywhere for you!"  
  
"Me?" Yugi asked, blinking. "Why, Yami?" Unnoticed, Seto drew in a sharp breath.  
  
Yami handed Yugi one of his notebooks, apologizing breathlessly. "I realized that I'd picked up one of your things by mistake in my last class, and I thought that I should give it back to you."  
  
"Thank you," Yugi said, accepting the notebook. He was just thinking of introducing Kaiba when the boy in question spoke.  
  
"Yami?" he said, in a voice so full of hope and desperation that the others stared.  
  
Yami blinked, not recognizing the voice. "That's my name," she said, turning towards Seto. "But I don't think I know you-" she broke off as she came face-to-face with Seto, going wide-eyed as she looked at him.  
  
"Oh, um, that's-" Yugi started to say, but was cut off.  
  
"Call me Seto," Seto interrupted, staring intently at the girl before him, who stared right back.  
  
"Nice to meet you," Yami stammered out, ducking her head to hide her growing blush. What was wrong with her?! She'd just met him! But his eyes were so familiar...*he* was so familiar...had she seen him somewhere before?  
  
"It's a pleasure to meet you too," Seto said softly, in a tone of voice the others had never heard him use before, except possibly with Mokuba. They boggled, and inside his Soul Room, Kage smiled.  
  
Unexpectedly, the clock tower in the school tolled, marking the hour. Yami's head shot up.  
  
"Oh no!" she cried, checking her watch. "My next class starts in ten minutes and it's all the way on the other side of the school! Itwasverynicetoseeyouallagainbye!" She bowed hastily to everyone before dashing off.  
  
Seto stared after her, blue eyes clouded.  
  
"How much do you remember?" Kage asked Seto quietly, appearing again.  
  
"Not much," Seto replied, sighing. "Just that she was your sister, and that she was important somehow. What was she to me?" Seto asked Kage, his eyes pleading.  
  
"Many things," Kage said, unsure of what he should tell the other boy. To tell him too much too soon could prove disastrous. "She was the High Priestess for one, and also your friend."  
  
"And does she remember anything?" Seto asked.  
  
"As you can see for yourself, not much," Kage replied.  
  
"Will she ever?"  
  
"Possibly," Kage said. "But do not tell her; if she does find out, it should be on her own, with as little help from us as possible."  
  
Seto hesitated. "I understand," he said at last.  
  
"Don't be too sad, my friend," Kage said gently as Seto turned to leave. When Seto looked back, obviously surprised by the "friend" comment, Kage simply smiled at one of the best friends he'd ever had.  
  
"...I'll try not to be," Seto said, inclining his head slightly at his former pharaoh before walking off.  
  
"What was that all about?" Jounochi demanded once Seto was out of earshot.  
  
"Yeah," Anzu added. "Why were Kaiba and Yami all...quiet and stuff?"  
  
"You didn't tell Kaiba-kun something important, did you?" Yugi said quietly.  
  
"No, I didn't," Kage answered. "And I won't tell any of you either, because now is not the time for anyone to know."  
  
"Will you at least tell us everything else?" Anzu asked.  
  
"If you promise not to tell anyone, I will," Kage said, looking at them sternly.  
  
"We promise!" the three teens chorused.  
  
With a faint sigh, Kage told them the story of his life.  
  
*****  
  
"How was school?" Yami's mother asked as her daughter came waltzing in the door that evening.  
  
"Not that bad," Yami replied, kissing her parents on the cheek. "The classes aren't too boring and I met some nice people."  
  
"Did you meet any nice boys?" her father asked teasingly. "If you do, make sure to bring them home someday so we can see if they fit the requirements," he said, winking to show that it was all in fun.  
  
Yami laughed at her father's joke, though her thoughts immediately went to a certain tall, blue-eyed brunette. "Of course, father," she said dutifully, eyes twinkling.  
  
"You've already eaten, right?" Yami's mother asked, injecting a note of common sense into the conversation.  
  
"Yes; I grabbed a bite to eat on the way back," Yami replied. "And I don't have any homework, before you ask."  
  
"Well then, what are you going to do now?" her mother asked. "Your father has no work to be helped with; he finished it all on his own for once."  
  
Yami laughed as her mother gave her husband a mock glare. "I suppose I'll go to bed early then," she said, hugging her parents.  
  
"Good night," her parents said.  
  
"'Night!" she called as she went up to her room. She hummed softly under her breath as she changed into her pajamas and combed her hair. She smiled as she flopped onto her bed, a pair of cerulean eyes in her mind as she went to sleep.  
  
That night, her dreams were perfectly normal and devoid of any ancient memories.  
  
~* To Be Continued *~  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~  
  
Like? Don't like? Think I'm crazy? Tell me in a review. XD I don't know where Jounochi's semi-crush came from. ^_^; And huggle Seto; you know you want to.  
  
@|------ Saria-the-green-haired  
  
I love vacation!  
  
Next chapter will be "It's a Really Small World." Why? Wait and see. ^.~ 


	3. Chapter Two: It's a Really Small World

Warnings: I am weird, my brain is dead, and that is probably going to affect my writing. You have been warned. And I suck at names like you would not believe.  
  
Pairing: Seto/Yami  
  
Disclaimer: I own Kage and all other original characters. Don't steal them; I have pointy teeth and I'm not afraid to use them. I don't own the rest.  
  
Notes: [...] signify flashbacks or dreams, but ideas for those have gone "poof," so don't expect many.  
  
/.../ is Yugi talking mentally with Kage  
  
//...// is Kage talking mentally with Yugi  
  
I can't foreshadow, so sue me.  
  
Much thanks to my reviewers!  
  
RD: It is a pity, isn't it? XD All the more fun for Kage though...  
  
Lady SapphireStar: Blushing is good, yes. :evil grin:  
  
I lied about the two weeks thing. Eheheheheheh...^____^;;;;;;  
  
Many people liked my random humor/very perverted story "Catching Kaiba." Maybe I should write more stories like that...:nudges RD: Give me ideaaaaaaaaaas...  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~  
  
Another Life, Another Chance to Turn Twenty One  
  
By Saria-the-green-haired  
  
~* Chapter Two: It's a Really Small World *~  
  
Two weeks later, Yugi reflected that he had never been happier. College wasn't as bad as he'd thought it would be, and Kage had been steadily cheering up ever since seeing his sister. Yugi privately thought that if Kage ever got to meet Yami in person, he'd be glowing afterwards, especially if he got her to remember who she was. Speaking of Yami...  
  
Yugi smiled to himself. The crimson-eyed girl was kind and intelligent, with a wicked sense of humor. Yugi could easily tell that she and Kage were related from personality alone, though Yami was quieter and more thoughtful than her brother, as well as more prone to introspection. She, Yugi, Anzu, and Jounochi had become fast friends, her bond with them echoing that of Kage's, but with differences nonetheless. She seemed closer to Anzu, but then that was natural, seeing as the two were the only females in the group. Perhaps her friendship with the group was not as strong as Kage's, but that too was only natural, because their bond and trust in Kage had been forged in various life-or-death situations over several years, while she had only known them for a few weeks. It was really a pity that they only had one class with her-  
  
"Hello? Earth to Yugi!" Yugi jumped as Jounochi all but yelled in his ear.  
  
"What?" he asked the blonde boy.  
  
"Class is over, in case you hadn't noticed, Yugi," Anzu remarked dryly from Yugi's other side.  
  
There was a small laugh as Yami walked over. "Of course he didn't notice, Anzu," the other girl quipped. "After all, if he had been here, he wouldn't have hit the ceiling when Jounochi called him."  
  
"True, true," Anzu said laughingly.  
  
"Um, how long has class been over for?" Yugi asked as he quickly gathered up his belongings.  
  
"A few minutes," Yami answered, still smiling.  
  
"Oops?" Yugi said, smiling innocently. "At least none of us have classes after this, right?" /And stop laughing, Kage,/ he thought peevishly as the group started walking. /If you were paying attention, why didn't you *tell* me that class was over?/  
  
//I did,// his darker half said. //I gave up after the tenth time.//  
  
/...hmmph,/ Yugi said, then looked up as Anzu waved a hand in front of his face. "Yeah?"  
  
"What is with you today, Yugi?" Jounochi asked. "You keep zoning out!"  
  
"Oh, sorry," Yugi said, looking contrite. "I was talk-er, thinking to myself," he said, hastily changing his sentence as he remembered that Yami didn't know about Kage. Well, much, anyways. Yami gave him an odd look, obviously noticing the slip, but dropped the subject when Anzu spoke.  
  
"Well, if Our Majesty has finally decided to give us his undivided attention, then we can get back to the subject at hand," the brunette said teasingly. "What do you think about it, Yugi?"  
  
"Er, what was the question?" Yugi asked sheepishly, hoping his childhood friend wouldn't get too angry with him.  
  
Anzu gave him an exasperated look. "Since it's Friday, we were talking about what to do after classes today. I thought that we could go out to eat or something. Jounochi thinks it's a good idea too. What about you?"  
  
"I think that it would be fun," Yugi said excitedly. "We could even invite Bakura-kun!"  
  
Anzu grinned. "Yeah; we haven't seen him for a while. What do you think, Yami?" she asked, turning to the other girl. "Do you want to come?"  
  
Yami bit her lip as she tried to remember why the name "Bakura" sounded so familiar, yet not. "I don't think I can. My parents and I are going somewhere tonight...sorry."  
  
Yugi wilted slightly, as did the others. This would have been a perfect chance say that his "cousin" was in town, and have the two meet. "It's all right," he said cheerily. "You can always come next time, right?"  
  
Yami nodded, smiling to herself as the three began to discuss their plans for the night enthusiastically.  
  
*****  
  
Seto groaned quietly, resisting the urge to bang his head against something. What had possessed him to listen to his fellow executives? Granted, they were much nicer (not to mention more intelligent) and not as power-hungry as the Big Five (those bastards) had been, but some of their ideas really took the cake. Oh well. At least he wasn't in charge of organizing the actual event.  
  
Sighing, Seto straightened and cast a wary eye over the crowd of high-class and influential people, mostly owners of important and wealthy companies, who were currently making small talk in one of the larger dining halls. Why had he agreed to host a dinner party? It was a horrible idea, no matter how reasonable his colleagues had made it seem. So what if it was a good way to make deals for the company? It was still utter torture, especially since most of the owners' wives seemed intent on throwing their (usually) single daughters at him, obviously trying to snag him as a future son-in-law. And he couldn't even be horribly rude towards them because his fellow executives had made him promise (with Mokuba's help, the traitor) to be at least civil to everyone. Seto saw another girl separate herself from the crowd and head determinedly towards him, and briefly wondered if the wine was spiked yet. He really needed to get drunk.  
  
Much to his relief, Seto saw one of his executives also walking towards him, and grateful for the escape, turned obligingly to face the man. "Do you need something?"  
  
The man smiled slightly, noticing the disappointed girl who was walking back to the crowd. "I see you're doing well, Kaiba-san," he said.  
  
Seto snorted. "Define `well.`"  
  
The smile flitted across the man's face again. "As well as can be then, Kaiba-san."  
  
"Yes, I suppose so," Seto grumbled. "And since I know you didn't come here just to remark on how I appear to be doing, what do you want?"  
  
"You are as perceptive as ever, Kaiba-san," his colleague murmured. "I merely wanted to ask you, as CEO of our company, to be the one to greet the owners of the company that recently opened a new branch here when they arrive. Their company is very well-known and important, you know."  
  
"Fine," Seto said with a long-suffering air. "When are they supposed to get here?"  
  
"Soon, I believe," the man answered, then turned towards the door. "In fact, here they are."  
  
Seto headed towards the door, mentally steeling himself if they should have a daughter, bowing politely as he greeted the middle-aged couple. "I am Seto Kaiba, your host for the evening. Welcome to my home, and I hope you enjoy yourselves."  
  
"I am Ada Monou and this is my wife, Hisae Monou. We thank you for your invitation," the CEO of Monou Machines said, he and his wife bowing as well. For a man past his prime, Ada Monou still looked quite healthy and handsome.  
  
"I'm sure we will enjoy ourselves very much, Kaiba-san," his wife said, smiling. She was a slender woman whose beauty had only just begun to fade.  
  
Noting that no one had entered after them, Seto spoke again, trying not to cheer inwardly. "Do you not have any children, or have they declined to join you tonight?" he asked.  
  
"Oh, we have children; one daughter around your age, if I'm not mistaken," Hisae said, and Seto's heart sank. "She's coming tonight as well." Seto's heart was now residing in his feet and trying to go through the floor.  
  
Ada looked behind him, the beginnings of a frown on his face. "She was right behind us too, now where could she have gone? Blast it..." The sound of footsteps came in the hallway behind them and Ada smiled, brightening. "That should be her, thank goodness."  
  
Seto tried to arrange his features into a polite smile, which more resembled a grimace, as the girl appeared in the doorway. "Welcome to the party," he said tiredly, bowing.  
  
"Good evening and thank you," the girl said, bowing as well.  
  
Seto had to admit that the red evening gown the girl was wearing was rather flattering, and her voice was pleasant to listen to, but it sounded oddly familiar...his head shot up as she spoke again.  
  
"It's nice to see you again, Seto Kaiba." Yami said, smiling calmly at the slack-jawed Seto.  
  
*****  
  
Meanwhile...  
  
"Bakura-kun!" Yugi cried excitedly, waving his chopsticks in the air. "Bakura-kun, over here!"  
  
Anzu looked up from her food and waved too as the white-haired boy made his way to their table. Kage glanced up and smiled briefly at Bakura before returning his attention to the tabletop, which he had been staring at ever since they'd arrived. Jounochi gave no sign that he noticed Bakura's presence except a marginal slowing in his eating, which reduced his eating speed to merely hideously fast (as opposed to, say, "Look! It's a human vacuum cleaner!").  
  
"Long time no see, Bakura-kun," Yugi said smilingly once the boy in question had seated himself and ordered food.  
  
"It has been a while, hasn't it?" the soft-spoken boy said.  
  
"Too long," Anzu interjected. "We really should meet more often. How are things at your school, Bakura?"  
  
"Things are fine," Bakura replied. "Though, I must admit that having no daily disasters gets rather boring after a while..."  
  
"I know what you mean," Anzu said. "But I certainly don't miss some of those disasters, mind you."  
  
"Who does?" Yugi asked wryly. "And we may have another adventure on our hands, anyways. You know, what with Yami and all, Anzu."  
  
"Oh, right!" the brown-haired girl exclaimed. "You don't know about her yet, Bakura."  
  
"Who is she?" Bakura asked.  
  
"We met her at school," Yugi explained. "Her name's Yami Monou, and she recently moved here from Kyoto."  
  
"She's really cool!" Anzu cut in. "She knows all sorts of stuff and she's really nice and-"  
  
"And she looks like Kage," Yugi finished.  
  
"Really?" Bakura asked curiously, absently noticing that the current topic of conversation had caught his yami's attention. "Exactly like Kage? What does that mean?"  
  
"Well," Yugi said. "Kage thinks that she's his twin sister-"  
  
"I *know* that she's my sister," Kage interrupted. "I'd recognize her anywhere."  
  
"Yes...well," Yugi said. "The only problem is that she doesn't remember anything beyond Kage's name, and even then she's not sure what it's supposed to mean to her."  
  
"You forget that she apparently recognizes Kaiba," Anzu added dryly.  
  
"Yeah, as gross as that is," Jounochi said, taking a brief break in his eating.  
  
"Well, they worked together in the past, according to Kage, so maybe that's why she recognized him," Yugi pointed out logically.  
  
"But then, wouldn't she have recognized her own brother?" Bakura asked.  
  
"Erm...," Yugi said.  
  
Everyone looked at Kage, who merely shrugged. "That secret is not mine to tell," he said, looking maddeningly inscrutable.  
  
"Fine then," Yugi said, feeling miffed as he impishly stuck his tongue out at his darker half. "Be that way. Do you want our help in getting you two to meet or not?"  
  
"Yes please," Kage said, smiling winningly at Yugi, who gave him an exasperated look.  
  
"How are you going to get them to meet?" Bakura asked. "How are you going to explain Kage?"  
  
"Well, I already said that he was my cousin," Yugi said. "So we could say that he was in town for the weekend or something and have them meet, since Yami does want to meet him..."  
  
"We were going to try that tonight, but Yami had other plans," Anzu said, looking disappointed that the other girl hadn't been able to make it. "And you still need to meet her too, Bakura."  
  
"I'm looking forward to it," Bakura said, smiling. "And I'll do anything I can to help with your cover story. Perhaps we could say that Yugi's `cousin` goes to my school?"  
  
"That's a great idea!" Anzu enthused. The friends spent the rest of the evening discussing their plan for getting Yami to meet Kage (and Bakura), as well as more mundane things like classes at school. They left the restaurant at closing time and regretfully parted ways with Bakura, who promised to try to meet with them again soon.  
  
"Wasn't that a great evening?" Anzu asked cheerfully.  
  
"Yes," Kage said, then frowned slightly. A feeling of unease had been growing in his mind ever since meeting with Bakura.  
  
"Is something wrong?" Jounochi asked, seeing the frown.  
  
"No, it's nothing, Jounochi-kun," Kage replied, chalking the feeling up to guilt over meddling in his sister's present life (which she would undoubtedly kill him for if she ever found out) and keeping secrets from everyone.  
  
"If you're sure...," Jounochi said.  
  
"Positive," Kage said firmly, then grinned. "Shouldn't you three be getting home before curfew, anyways? It's getting a bit late, you know."  
  
"Oh, stop it with the holier-than-thou attitude," Anzu said good-naturedly. "You may be older than the rest of us, but you don't look it."  
  
"You don't act it some of the time either," Yugi muttered before running away.  
  
"I heard that!" Kage said, giving chase.  
  
"Hey, wait up!" Jounochi called as he ran after them, not one to be left out of the fun.  
  
"Males!" Anzu huffed as she followed the three at a more sedate pace.  
  
~* To be Continued *~  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~  
  
I'm very sorry that this took so long, but school sucks, swimming is very time-consuming (not to mention tiring), and my attention span is virtually nonexistent at this point. ^_^; I will try not to let the next chapter take so long, but reviews would help speed up the process. =D And yes, I know that this is a weird story. 0=)  
  
A note about the names: "Monou" is a last name I stole from the CLAMP manga series X/1999. It's also pronounced very similar to "Mutou," which is Yugi's last name.  
  
"Ada" is a Japanese name that fits my character's personality rather well. It also means "father" in Elvish.  
  
"Hisae" is another Japanese name that fits the character's personality perfectly. There is no pun for this name. ^^;;;;;;;;  
  
I'm perfectly aware that I left off the Seto and Yami scene at a very mean place, but it was too good an opportunity to pass up. ^_^ More in the next chapter, which will be titled "The Weirdest Dinner Party Ever."  
  
@|------ Saria-the-green-haired  
  
P.S. Go read my friend RD's (penname Red Dragon) parody of the song "That Don't Impress me Much" on FFN. ^^ Probably not for Seto fans, but then, RD is a rabid Seto fan, so maybe not. 


End file.
